Welcome to Day 1444 of our Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me.

This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom

No Excuse Bible Study – Meditation Monday

Wisdom - the final frontier to true knowledge. Welcome to Wisdom-Trek! Where our mission is to create a legacy of wisdom, to seek out discernment and insights, to boldly grow where few have chosen to grow before. Hello, my friend, I am Guthrie Chamberlain, your captain on our journey to increase Wisdom and Create a Living Legacy. Thank you for joining us today as we explore wisdom on our 2nd millennium of podcasts. This is Day 1444 of our Trek, and it is time for Meditation Monday. Taking time to relax, refocus, and reprioritize our lives is crucial in order to create a living legacy. For you, it may just be time alone for quiet reflection. You may utilize structured meditation practices. In my life, Meditation includes reading and reflecting on God’s Word and in prayer. It is a time to renew my mind, refocus on what is most important, and making sure that I am nurturing my soul, mind, and body. As you come along with me on our trek each Meditation Monday, it is my hope and prayer that you, too, will experience a time for reflection and renewing of your mind. 

We are continuing a new series this week on Meditation Monday, which will focus on Mastering Bible Study through a series of brief insights from Hebrew Scholar, Dr. Michael S. Heiser. Our first few insights will focus on study habits to build a strong foundation. Today let us meditate on:

No Excuse Bible Study

·      Insight Seven: Deuteronomy 29:29 Is No Excuse for Intellectual Laziness in Bible Study

No one likes to hear excuses. Whether it be your kids, your parents, your coworkers, or your friends, it’s downright annoying when people try to avoid problems and then make excuses for not doing what they know needs to be done. It’s something we all have to watch for in ourselves too—and in our Bible study.

Deuteronomy 29:29 has, unfortunately, become the go-to verse for quitting when thinking gets hard in Bible study. It’s the verse that says: “The Lord, our God, has secrets known to no one. We are not accountable for them, but we and our children are accountable forever for all that he has revealed to us, so that we may obey all the terms of these instructions.

Most people only know the first few words: “The Lord, our God, has secrets known to no one.” Dr. Heiser shares that as a professor and a Bible teacher in the church, he has heard those words often enough to be able to paraphrase their meaning whenever students of all varieties and circumstances use them. Here are some excuses:

• “No one really knows what that verse means, so can we move on to something more practical?”
• “I want my Bible to be simple. You’re making my head hurt.”
• “Are you going to ask us to explain that passage on an exam?”

The irony here is that Deuteronomy 29:29 doesn’t mean that there are things in the Bible that are hard to figure out. Deuteronomy 29 is part of the conclusion of a long sermon by Moses about blessings or curses from God for obedience or disobedience. After talking about the need to obey God and how to avoid offending him, Moses punctuates his point with this verse. The point is not that God says things that are difficult to understand. It’s that concealed acts of sin are still known to God. He will punish them since He knows them. The revealed violations were the Israelites’ responsibility to punish.

For our purposes, the point should be clear: Deuteronomy 29:29 is not about waving the white flag of surrender in Bible study. No one understands everything in the Bible, but a lot of hard passages do have coherent explanations. It’s our job to find them, not evade the work involved.

·      Insight Eight: When You Read About a Place in the Bible, Look Up What Happened There

Geography can be interesting if you allow it to be. Exploration of people, places, and events can also assist us in our Bible study. Who needs to pay attention to places and locations, especially in a book as old as the Bible? You do.

For example, reading an article about the biblical region of Bashan can change your mindset. It allows you to think about the word Bashan in Scripture the way ancient Israelites thought about it. That’s when your Bible study insights can be turned on.

Every geographic location has its histories, and places have reputations. What do you think of when you read the words '‘Las Vegas"? How about “Ground Zero,” “Normandy,” “Boston Harbor,” and “Washington, DC? Each one comes with its own set of images drawn from significant and ongoing events. We can't see these place names without all sorts of ideas and memories flooding our minds.

The same is true with biblical places. But most ancient place names don’t resonate with us since we know so little of their history. Biblical writers dropped place names all the time. When they noted in passing that a biblical character went to a location or did something at a particular place, their readers knew instantly what the geography telegraphed.

For example, it’s significant that Joshua gathered all the tribes of Israel at Shechem to renew the covenant with God (Joshua 24:1). Shechem had a history, both good and bad. In the horrible stories of Judges 19-21, there are reasons why the author keeps dropping geographical hints about the characters. The place names drive the stories because of the associations they conjured in the mind of the reader. Paul’s urgent passion for getting to Spain (Romans 15:24, 28) has a compelling Old Testament backdrop. Curious about these examples? Good. You have work to do! Discovering what a location is known for will help you think thoughts the author wanted you to have.

Joshua 1:8

Study this Book of Instruction continually. Meditate on it day and night so you will be sure to obey everything written in it. Only then will you prosper and succeed in all you do.

That is a wrap for today’s Meditation, next week; we will continue our trek on Meditation Monday as we take time to reflect on what is most important in creating our living legacy. On tomorrow’s trek, we will explore another wisdom quote. This 3-minute wisdom supplement will assist you in becoming healthy, wealthy, and wise each day. Thank you for joining me on this trek called life. Encourage your friends and family to join us and then come along tomorrow for another day of ‘Wisdom-Trek, Creating a Legacy.’  If you would like to listen to any of the past 1443 daily treks or read the daily journal, they are available at Wisdom-Trek.com. I encourage you to subscribe to Wisdom-Trek on your favorite podcast player so that each day will be downloaded to you automatically.

Thank you for allowing me to be your guide, mentor, and most importantly, I am your friend as I serve you through this Wisdom-Trek podcast and journal.

As we take this Trek of life together, let us always:

1. Live Abundantly (Fully)
2. Love Unconditionally
3. Listen Intentionally
4. Learn Continuously
5. Lend to others Generously
6. Lead with Integrity
7. Leave a Living Legacy Each Day

I am Guthrie Chamberlain….reminding you to ’Keep Moving Forward,’ ‘Enjoy your Journey,’ and ‘Create a Great Day…Everyday’! See you tomorrow!